Artificial tooth



Nov. 18, 1930'. A. E. VONGUNTEN 9 ARTIFICIAL room Filed Dec; 18,1925

Patented Nov. 18,1930

'1 UNITED; STATES PATENT ALFRED'E. VONGUHTEN, or H MILTO ONTARIO, CANADA, ssieNoR, BY nIREc'r Ann man COLUMBUS nEnrAnMANUrAcrname'coMr NY, or

' MEsNE Assicmvinnrs, To COL MBUS, oH o ARTIFICIAL rooTII' Application filed December 18,1923. Serial No. 681,371.,

The present invention. relates to artificial natural teeth whichhave beenremoved' or destroyed. This typeof artificialtooth ordinarily comprises a metal'backing which is secured in the denturebyai crown'or'bridgework, together with a porcelain facing whose A principal function is ton-simulate a natural tooth in appearance.-

The object of the presentinventionfis"to provide an improved 'formfof artificial tooth of considerable strengthlan'd' good appear ance, whichcan be'ea'sily placed infposition 15 without requiringexcessiveskill on the part of the practitioneri" t j With this object in view," one feature of the invention consists in thezprovision of a backing adapted to bear the entire biting stress so) that none of the stress falls on the facing. .Also, according to the invention, the facing is provided with grooves adapted for engage ment with the backing and arranged to per mitthe facing to be inserted into the backing from the cutting line of the tooth. Thus a preformed backing may beset in theproper position formerly occupied by the natural tooth, and a facing of suitablesize inserted 3 and firmly cemented to the backing so that 0 the use of anchoring pins or similar devices is entirely eliminated; V

7 Another feature of the invention consists in the formation of the porcelain" facing with an integral root which is adapted to fill the :root cavity whenever an entire natural tooth securing has been removed. In such a case the backing is secured in position, as by asuitable bridgework, so that upon the insertion of the facing therein, the integral root takes its proper position inside the cavity; V

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a natural jaw in whichtwo of the improvedartificial teeth are supported by bridge-,work;-Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the j aw with the metalbaclrings of the artificial teeth supported between two.

natural teeth; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the complete artificial teethf'set in place; Fig.4 is a rearview of the artificial tooth without a root; Fig. 5 is a section on 1 shown in Fig.7 v V The tooth illustrated in Fig. 4 comprises a .line 5"-5 ofFig 4; is a section on line teeth and moreparti'cularly to the type of artificial teeth used for; replacing individual metalbacking 10, and a facing 12 of such.

material asto simulate a natural tooth inappearance; According to the usual'practice',

the backing is preferably of gold, and th'e'facmg of porcelain. The backing is provided "with a pair of dovetailed tongues'ltbientim wardly and sloping toward each other from the cutting line tothe gum line of the tooth, A

{while the facing is provided with similarly formed grooves adapted for engagement with the tongues of the backing. The tongue and,

groove connectionis' designed so 'that when the facing is firmly seated in the backing the cutting or incisal edge 13 of the backing lies substantially flush with the edge of the facing in order that theentire biting stress maybe taken by thebacking, thus permitting the fac- I ing to carry out its sole purpose of appearing llke a natural toothand precluding any injury to the facing through biting stresses; .In

order to insure placing the entire stress on the backing, the latter mayproject slightly" over'the edge of'the facing, if desired. The

upper end of the facing (orthe lower endin' case of atoothfor the lower jaw) has a projection 16 adapted tolie against. the gum to give theappcarance of'a natural tooth rising from the gum. The facing'is firmly cemented to the backing, thus serving to hold the parts together without any of theusual forms of anchoring pins; This form of toothis adapted for use where no root cavity is'to'befilled,

as for example, where the gum has contracted 1 to close upthe cavity aftera tooth has'been removed. 1 e 3 v 7 The tooth illustrated in Fig. 7 is similar to .the abovefexcept that the facing, which is indicated at 17,- is provided with an'integral root 18 adapted for filling a root cavity. The

in order to cause the cuttingedge of the tooth to :come in proper position, and at the same backing 20 is curved, asillustrated in Fig. ,8,

when the facing is inserted. 1 The backing and I facing are provided with a dovetailed tongue and groove and are so arranged that the cutting edgeof the backing takes the entire biting stress, as before.

The above described teeth are herein illustrated as embodied in a bridge-work for supplying two adjacent artificial teeth in a natural denture. In Fig. 2 are illustrated two backings 10 and 20 supported bet-ween two.

natural teeth 22 and over the gum 24. The

backing 10, which has no provision'for holding a facing with a root, is mounted over a portion of the jaw where there is no root cavity whereas the backing 20 is mounted over the root cavity 26 in the gum. The backings 10 and 20 are soldered together and also to crowns 28 and 30 on the adjacent natural teeth. The backings are supported entirely clear of the gum line so that no metal rests against the gum. The facings are theninserted as described above, suitable cement being used to effect a bond between the facings and backings. The projectionlfi on the facing 12 is sufficiently long to rest directly against the gum, as shown in Fig. 3, so thatthe tooth has the appearance of a natural tooth rising directly out of thegum. v:The facing 17 is .inserted so that thelroot 18 enters and fills the root cavity 26.

It will be seen that the present invention forms a convenient and economical method of inserting-artificial teeth. Although the specific embodiment of the invention has been described as for bridge-work,the invention may obviously be modified without departing from its broader aspects to include other forms of mounting, such as bya crown over a ing liesubstantially flush with one another, no bending of the backing over the facingis desirable or necessary, so that the facing may be conveniently removed for repairs or reolacements without dama ing the backin Furthermore, since the facing is'inserted from the cutting line-rather than from the gum hneof the tooth, the insertion may be made c after the backing is completely set up in posi- 7 tion in the denture. Thus all the preliminary steps such as soldering the backings and crowns may be carried out before the facing is inserted, without danger of injuring the facing.

What is claimed is:

1. An artificial tooth having an integral {facing is eliminated root and'comprising a metal backing, means for supporting the backlng in proper posit1on with the metal clear of the gum line arranged to have its incisal surface bear the entire biting stress, a facing adapted to simulate a natural tooth and having external grooves for engaging the backing and adapted to be cemented thereto, whereby the use of anchoring pins is eliminated. v

2.1 m artificial tooth" for a bridge-work comprising a metal backing, means forsupporting the backing from a natural tooth with the metal clear of the gum line and having its incisal surfaceadapted to bear substantially the entire biting stress of the tooth, a porcelain facing havingjgrooves of. greater depth at the lingualen'd than at the labial end for provided with an integr alroot adapted to be inserted into thebacking from the cuttinglineof the tooth, the facing and backingbeing cemented together, whereby the use of anchoring pins for securingthe backing and 3. An artificial toothcomprising a facing having an integral root extension and a crown portion, saidcrown portion being provided with a labio-occlus'ally inclined surface, a tenonprojegtingfronrsaid inclined surface .and having its verticalsides under out; said tenon being of greater depthcat the lingual end than at thelabialend; a'cusp plate, said cusp platebeing provided with a mortise to fitsaid tenon.

I '4. In an artificial tooth havinga root section, a backing having a pair of dovetailed tongues bent inwardly and sloping toward each other from the cutting line tothe g ngival endofthe backing and terminating.

short of the gum line of thetooth; v 5. In an artificial tooth having aroot section, a backing having a pair of dovetailed tongues bentin-wardly and slopingtoward each other from the cutting line to the gingival end :of the backing and terminating short of the gum line of the tooth, and a porcelain body having grooves in its lingual face complementary with the said backing designed for engagement with said tongues. 6. In an artificial tooth having aroot section, a backing having a pair of dovetailed tongues bent in'wardly and sloping toward each other from the cutting line to the gingival end of thetbacking and terminating short of the gum-line of the tooth,.,and a porcelain body having grooves in .its lin gual face complementary with the said backing designed for engagement with said tongues,

the incisal end of the backing lying substantially flushwith the incisal-end of the porcelain body. 5

"7. An artificial tooth comprising a backing having a pair of dovetailedtongues bent inpermitting engagement with the backing and r wardly and sloping toward each othenfrom the incisal end to the gingival endofthe backing, and a porcelain facing provided with an integral root, grooves in-the lingual 7 face. of said facing complementary with said tooth. u 8. In dental bridgework, abutment cast,-

tongues on the backing and design'edto receive said tongues, said grooves and tongues terminating'short'of the gum line of the ings, .and pontics, said pontics each compris- 1 g a root tooth and an occlusal attachment s'loping downwardlyfrom the lingual surface of the pontic to the labial face theref,;toa gether with side members. on the attachment and side cut-outs on the root tooth conforming' to the opposed surfaces ofsaid side 7 .7

members. 7

9. In dental bridgework, abutment cast; ings, and pontics, said pontics each comprising a root tooth and an occlusal attachment therefor, the opposed surfaces of said at- J tachment and said root tooth being disposed 1 at an incline sloping downwardly from. the

lingual surface of the pontic toward thelabial face thereof, said root tooth furthermore. havingentrant cut-outs at the sides forminga dovetail on the root tooth at the I v morsal end, said dovetail extending from the lingual surface of the root tooth and vanisha ing adjacent the labial face of the root tooth; together with members on said attachment 7 at the sides thereof corresponding with the i'ranishing dovetail formation of said root tooth.

,10. A pontic comprisinga'root tooth may. i

a cusp, a key integral with and on the occlusally directed surface of the tooth having sides sloping inwardly toward each other from the incisal end toward the lingual face of the toothand wedgedly engaging the cusp portion, said key and cusp terminating short of the gum line of the tooth.

11. A roottooth having a key integral with and on its occlusally directed end surface, said key terminating short of the gum line of the tooth and havingsides sloping inwardly toward each other from. the incisal i I end toward the lingual face of the tooth, and adapted to wedgedly engage a cusp.

12. Aroottooth havingakey integral with. its linguo-occlusally directed surface, the

sides ofsaid key sloping inwardly toward each othervfrom the occlusalendtoward the lingual face of the tooth, and a cusp member complementalto and adapted towedgedly engagesaidkey, said key and key waytermi- 1 nating short of the gum line of the tooth.

ALFRED VONGUNTEN. 

